OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Willie Snead's hands stuck out on the Baltimore Ravens practice field Saturday for a simple reason: Onlookers could see them.

While most players and every other wide receiver wore gloves during the training camp session, Snead opted to go barehanded. The fifth-year wideout has taken off his gloves for certain drills throughout the summer, but Saturday he didn't even bring them onto the field because he wanted to emphasize a few aspects of his performance.

Mostly, Snead said he wanted to focus on his releases. Playing against physical slot corner Tavon Young in practice, Snead thought he could better train himself to use his hands to push away defenders if he wasn't wearing gloves.

"I wanted to use my hands more in my releases and try to be strong," Snead said. "My goal is to not use gloves all the way through and just see how that helps me with my releases and catching the ball, looking at it all the way in."

The idea is that if Snead can grow comfortable shoving Young's hands off his body and snatching passes without gloves on, he'll be at his best when he pulls them on for game day. NFL players typically wear gloves that have sticky substance on the inside to help with hanging onto the ball and protecting their fingers from potential injury.

So Snead will continue wearing gloves during games to reap those benefits, but he doesn't mind ditching the handwear during mid-summer training camp practices.

"I sweat a lot," he said with a smile, "so by the time I'm halfway through practice, my gloves are totally soaked."

Still, Snead said the main impetus for his barehanded practice was his aim of fighting off Young's hands in practice. After signing with the Ravens this offseason as part of the team's quest to overhaul its receiving corps, Snead found that practicing against Young has helped him prepare for the regular season, because the Temple product is an expert at jamming receivers near the line of scrimmage.

Snead often lines up in the slot, where it's vital to break free from a defender's contact early in the route. Young makes that difficult.

"He's feisty, man," Snead said. "He's a different type of nickel corner. He gets a lot of hands on, and that's forcing me to have to use my hands more, instead of just trying to be quick off the line."

Snead likes the challenge of facing Young. Saturday, he left his gloves in his locker and took to it.